A few years ago if I had mentioned Into the Woods, I may have been lucky enough to run into a theatre goer who had heard of the musical. Now that Hollywood has adapted it into a film, the show is about as hidden for theatre folks as Comic-Con is for geeks. Everyone knows about it now, and that’s not changing anytime soon. As a consequence this is a well-known show and with that comes interesting challenges for the performers. How do we make this production ours? What is this show about, and how can we communicate it in the best way possible? Vanguard University took on the challenge of producing such an epic musical and, under the direction of Vanda Eggington, pulled off an entertaining night of theatre but also missed opportunities to capitalize on the show’s vital moments.

Into the Woods is a story set in fairytale land and is about what happens to the fairytale characters after they receive their happily ever after. The play follows a Baker (Austin Nunn) and his wife (Kate Frampton), who are on a quest to gather special items for a witch (Alexandra Miller) in order to break a curse that is preventing them from having a baby. The quest leads to the Baker and his wife dealing with other characters such as Red Riding Hood (Megan Fox), who’s on the way to grandmother’s house, Cinderella and many other characters from children’s tales. There’s much more to the story, but if you’re one of the few people who haven’t seen this show yet, I don’t want to spoil it for you –let’s just say this is not a show with a traditional fairytale ending.

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This story is dark with some rather gruesome scenes. Despite not leaving them out, this production is rather sanitized, so the blood and gore is minimal at best. Even though some of the visual darkness is slightly overlooked in this production, all the emotional themes and questions from the original story are used and performed well.

Into the Woods is lead mostly by the performance of the two main characters, the Baker and the Baker’s wife, and in this instance they happen to be two of the strongest actors on stage. Austin Nunn the Baker is now an Alumni now of Vanguard University, and he returns to the Lyceum Stage for a good reason, which is to play a fantastic Baker. I’ve had the pleasure of watching Nunn in quite a few Vanguard plays now. I’ve known him to play characters in a more theatrical way, but in this production he was a lot more toned down and measured in his performance as the Baker. It’s great to see he has so many layers to his acting. Kate Frampton as the Baker’s Wife mirrored Nunn’s acting, but she also impressed me throughout the entire show with her consistency in each scene. Her voice was excellent, and one of my favorite songs of the night was “The Moments In The Woods,” a song I had previously underrated. Because of Frampton I discovered that song is a treat, though it still remains very sad.

Ethan Boyle plays the character of the steward, who is a minor and probably overlooked role in the grand scheme of things, but Boyle makes the character thoroughly enjoyable in this show. I can’t explain with words exactly what makes him funny. You will have to see if for yourself, including the faces Boyle makes, which are classic. Alexandria Miller plays the Witch –probably one of the hardest parts in the play. First of all she probably has the most songs to sing during the show. Secondly, the character was originated by Bernadette Peters, so the part has a high hill to climb. Miller climbs that hill during that show and pulls off a solid performance.

Besides some minor singing issues with certain actors, the largest issue in this production are the failed opportunities during certain scenes. The actors seemed to play and sing certain pivotal scenes uncharacteristically safe –leaving space for improvement in the presentation of certain moments.

Performing any Sondheim musical is an undertaking, and Vanguard University treaded familiar material with a respectable rendition.

GREAT SHOW

Review

8.6Overall

9.9Users(2 votes)

Story9.5

Acting8

Set & Design8.5

Costumes9

Entertainment8

Eliane Weidauer

Into the Woods...Vanguard U

I've seen a number of productions of "Into the Woods" including a big regional production. The performance I saw at Vanguard was the best of all. In fact of the over 60 plays I've seen, this is in my top 3. The cast was SO talented! Baker was warm, vulnerable...explored all sides of the character. The Witch displayed incredible vocal talent and acting skills! I was blown away! The Steward, delightful, inventive, and not hammy. If I had to find a flaw...the orchestra was a tad to loud several times, and the Baker's Wife struggled converting from chest voice to head voice several times. And Very clever use of the tiny stage. Bravo to All!

April 14, 2017, 2:37 pm

Story9

Acting9.5

Set & Design10

Costumes10

Entertainment10

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Rosemarie Miller

Into the Woods....Vanguard University

The first time I saw this many many years ago, I did not understand the story. The music and lyrics I believed to be a very high degree of difficulty. Into The Woods is the story of Life: happy times, sad times, and unexpected times. A journey of adventure. The Vanguard actors and musicians are some of the best that I have seen. I have been enjoying musical theatre for sixteen years.